PM confirms Fairer Funding for schools going forward

PMQs this week saw the following exchange, which impacts on our campaign for fairer the school funding in Northumberland and our fight for enhanced and changed funding to schools:

Michael Tomlinson MP:                                          

Schools in Poole are in the bottom five and schools in Dorset are in the bottom 11 when it comes to local education authorities and funding per pupil. I welcome this Government’s commitment to a fairer funding formula. Does the PM recognise the importance of fairer funding for our schools in Poole and Dorset, and the need for that to be implemented as quickly as possible to ensure a world-class education for our children, including respect for our traditions, and perhaps even learning the importance of our national anthem?        

David Cameron The Prime Minister,                                          

My hon. Friend makes a very important point. There are very strong calls on all sides to ensure that we address fairness in funding. In the last Parliament we allocated £390 million extra for fairer funding, and his own authorities, Dorset and Poole, benefited from that, receiving £3.1 million and £3.2 million respectively. I can tell him that that money is included in the baseline for schools funding in 2016 and 2017. But I know that there is unfairness in the current system and I want us to do everything we can to make the funding formula fairer.

Hansard source (Citation: HC Deb, 16 September 2015, c1045)

PM gives unequivocal assurance on Fairer Funding for Northumberland Schools

I have long campaigned to get greater funding for our local schools here in Ponteland and Tynedale. The massive imbalance between urban schools and rural schools is unfair, and now addressed in any event by the pupil premium. So I was delighted to hear the following exchange at Wednesday's PMQs.

Graham Stuart (Beverley and Holderness) (Con): Yesterday the National Audit Office called for the introduction of a fairer schools funding formula so that it is 

“related more closely to their”—

that is, pupils’—

“needs and less affected by where they live.”

Can the Prime Minister confirm from the Dispatch Box that the additional and very welcome £390 million awarded last year as a first step towards a fairer funding system will be incorporated into the baseline for future years?

The Prime Minister: I can say that we will implement the pledges in our manifesto on this issue because we need to make funding fairer across the country. If we look at the figures today, it is clearly unfair that a school in one part of the country can receive over 50% more funding than an identical school in another part of the country. We have already made some progress on this, but I want us to go further.

Local High Schools get share of extra £12m as part of our Fairer Funding Campaign - local High School specifics explained

In 2014 my campaign to change the rules on schools funding scored a £12 Million success. The new agreement secured from the Government gives a fairer funding deal for our schools.

For many decades our county has had one of the worst funded education authorities. The changes I have been able to help secure will deliver an extra £12 million for Northumberland's schools.
The breakdown locally will mean that next April 2015:
- Haydon Bridge High School will see its funding increase by £170,000,
- while Prudhoe High School will receive an extra £205,000, and a rebuild starting in the spring.
- QEHS in Hexham will get an extra £256,000 and
- Ponteland High School will get an extra £252,000.

At the height of this long campaign I was able to bring Schools Minister, David Laws, MP, to Tynedale to hear the case for fairer schools funding, and let specific teachers make the case to him. He also had a tour of Hexham QEHS, which is next on the list for our attempts to get substantial capital improvements to the aged school infrastructure.

It is great that we have been able to secure a £12m victory for our campaign. I will be continuing my fight for long term fairer funding for our local schools.

F40 - will it be fair?

Education Question 2 today at 2.30 - I am hoping to ask the SOS for guidance on whether all schools will be fairly treated so that all schools receive a leg up not just the chosen few, as decided by the County Council.

Schools Funding debate - Labour MPs in their droves are backing free schools

Bizarre scenes in the Commons yesterday as multiple Labour MPs from all across the country got up to praise free schools: Labour Education shadow, the increasingly bizarre Tristram Hunt had asked for a statement on free schools and education funding.
Michael Gove received support from some pretty odd quarters - Labour's Ian Austin MP for Dudley is Gordon Brown's former henchman and led the support for what the DFE are doing. The list of supporters was very long and full of Labour - much to Tristram's upset. In Tynedale we do not have a free school but the changes coming in are still very good.

My question to the Secretary of State was as  follows:
"In my part of Northumberland, we have neither the benefits nor the perceived burden of a free school. We have focused on more primary places; the rebuild, authorised by the Secretary of State, of Prudhoe community high school; the creation of the Haltwhistle academy, the first in my constituency; and the changes to the fairer funding formula, which will for the first time produce enhanced funding for Northumberland. I welcome the changes, I welcome his direction of travel and, in particular, I welcome the changes to the fairer funding formula."

Michael Gove replied:
"My hon. Friend makes a very good point. Part of the progressive changes that have been introduced by my Department and which have been championed and designed by the Minister for Schools has been an increase in funding for the parts of the country that have suffered in the past. In particular, the delivery of the pupil premium ensures that disadvantaged children, wherever they are, enjoy not only a high quality of education but additional investment in a better future."

Full debate is below: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140512/debtext/140512-0001.htm#1405129000001

School Funding the Taoist Way - the longest journey starts with the smallest step

Campaigns take a long time as an MP. You start with a simple idea, but the process of initiating change in a parliamentary democracy does take time. Nothing illustrates this argument as well as Fairer Funding for our schools - knows as the F40 campaign. It is patently wrong that the formula per pupil means that Newcastle schools receive over £800 per pupil more than Northumberland pupils. This, coupled to 3 tier, transport and various complex issues of rural deprivation mean it is extremely difficult to sustain our schools in Northumberland, particularly when compared to other schools budgets. I have visited over 30 of our schools in my patch and am shortly off to revisit Beaufront First School and go for the first time to Greenhead. I am always impressed by the wisdom, hard work and make do attitude of our headteachers and teaching staff.
 
This week we debated fairer funding in parliament. Many of the F40 campaigners spoke. The debate was led by Robin Walker MP for Worcester, who along with Richard Graham, the MP for Gloucester. have been doing the heavy lifting in the campaign. Two years ago in April 2012 we called for this change and debated the steps needed to be taken: Robin Walker MP in his opening speech on Tuesday set the scene, and explained why we are all Taoists now....

"Many hon. Friends in the Chamber today were with me in the debate initiated by my hon. Friend Richard Graham in April 2012, when we welcomed the Government’s commitment to a fairer formula but bemoaned the lack of a down payment to begin its delivery. It was my hon. Friend Guy Opperman who invoked the Chinese proverb of Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism, who said that "the longest journey begins with a single step." That single step has now been taken. Many parts of the country can rejoice at that. Of the £350 million targeted at helping the lowest-funded authorities, some £172 million—slightly less than half—is coming to F40 authorities. Cambridgeshire, South Gloucestershire, Northumberland and Shropshire all see gains of more than 6% as a result of the projected allocations and, of 34 current members of F40, 23 are seeing some uplift."

For the full debate and my short speech see here:
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?id=2014-04-29a.173.0&s=speaker%3A24962#g183.1

Today is the last day of the Fairer Funding F40 Consultation; have you made your representations?

Want more money for your school in Northumberland? Then make sure you return the short consultation document today as April 30 is the cut off point

I can walk over the border from Northumberland, which receives £5,241 per pupil, to Newcastle upon Tyne, which receives £6,052 per pupil—a difference of £809.

 

Teachers in some of my schools in Northumberland, such as East Tynedale, send their own children to schools in Newcastle, which can almost not spend their money, while Northumberland is struggling desperately. The system must change, and I welcome hugely the 6.4% uplift of £10 million coming next April. I have written to all my head teachers urging them to respond to the wider consultation.  I thank those who have written to me, including Ponteland Middle school, Mickley and Whitley Chapel first school, making the case, and the many others who have responded.

The long and short of the matter is that rural schools have been in a singularly difficult situation for many years under successive Governments. In areas with a three-tier system, such as Northumberland, it is particularly complex because the system is focused increasingly on two tiers. I mean no disrespect to the Department for Education, but it seems to struggle and have great difficulty understanding 3 tier school systems. We must have a continuing campaign. I endorse the point that we must scrutinise all political parties on their approach at the general election, because the matter will not be solved overnight. The long journey has had many steps, but they are leading in the right direction. I welcome what we have done for F40 and I support the campaign.

We debated the F40 Fairer Funding campaign in Parliament yesterday and my short speech was here: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?id=2014-04-29a.173.0&s=speaker%3A24962#g183.1

More money for schools in Northumberland - that is what todays 9.30 debate is about

Pleased to be debating schools funding today; please make sure that your school has responded to the consultation - Ponteland Middle, Mickley and others have done.

Happy St Georges Day!

Back in Westminster today catching up on casework and letters, and preparing for the return of parliament on Monday. I also have a couple of speeches to write on
- Better Funding for Northumberland Schools as part of the F40 Fairer Funding Campaign
- Support and humanitarian aid for Syrian Refugees.
I will be giving both speeches next Tuesday and welcome all constituents writing in with suggestions and comments on both.

Calling all Northumberland Teachers /Governors/ Pupils - is your School underfunded? You can do something about it

The key news is that there is
- both a financial increase of 6.4% next year to Northumberland schools.
- and a consultation on change.

Last week the Government announced that schools in Northumberland will receive an extra £10.6 million funding in 2015/16, addressing the historic unfairness in the way school funding has been allocated. This 6.4% uplift is part of a proposed £350 million boost to the most underfunded local authorities. It represents a step towards removing the unfairness which exists in the school funding system - which has seen Northumberland's schools underfunded compared to their urban counterparts in Newcastle and Gateshead for many years.
I raised this with the Schools Minister David Laws in the House of a Commons last week:
Question:
"Last summer the Minister visited Northumberland, where schoolchildren have, historically, been chronically underfunded, compared with those in other areas, by central Government. May I welcome the 6.4% increase in early 2015 and the ongoing consultation, and observe that the case for fairer funding is absolutely overwhelming? The Minister should prepare for a lot of representations from my head teachers.”

Mr Laws responded:
 "I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his welcome of our announcement. I congratulate him on his robust campaigning over a period of time to ensure this fairer funding settlement. As he knows, under our plans Northumberland’s per pupil funding rate will increase by around £269 per pupil per year, which will mean over £10 million more for schools in his area."
The school funding system that we inherited is fundamentally unfair. It is a postcode lottery that results in pupils attracting very different levels of funding without good reason. Compared to schools in Newcastle and Gateshead, Northumberland's schools have got a raw deal for far too long.

The Announcement is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/david-laws-oral-statement-on-minimum-funding-levels

The consultation document is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/fairer-schools-funding-2015-to-2016
Please fill it in - this really matters!

A trip to St Pauls Cathedral for consecration of Bishop Graham Usher punctuates my week in Westminster

Back in Westminster prepping for a busy week, hoping to speak in the Budget debate and education questions on Monday and a further session of the Criminal Justice Bills Committee on Tuesday. I am also meeting the HS2 team, including Sir David Higgins.
But the highlight of the week the visit on Tuesday morning to St Pauls to worship, and also support Bishop Usher at his consecration.  Graham has been a central part of our lives for a very long time, and I certainly owe him a massive debt.
When he was chosen I wrote of what a loss he would be:
http://guyopperman.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/hexhams-loss-huge-gain-for-dudley-black.html
but everyone locally has a collective agreement that the Church was wise to promote one who is so able on so many levels. Many constituents are coming down to support him. It will be a special morning.

Tomorrow is a very busy day for me: I am prepping a Budget Debate speech to be given on Monday evening. Before then I will be asking questions of the Education team at 3.15 tomorrow afternoon. I am unsure if David Laws or Michael Gove is responding but I intend to try and raise the Fairer Funding Campaign if I can. I also have plenty of constituents visiting the House of Commons during the week.